This self-made millionaire entrepreneur ate bread for six months straight to begin his restore service centre in S’pore – Mothership.SG

At 10 years previous, loads of Singaporean kids would maintain themselves occupied with college revision or enjoying with their buddies on the playground.

Esmond Liu, nevertheless, was busy promoting marbles to his buddies in class.

Entrepreneur since he was 10

As a Major four child, he would make journeys to a neighbourhood aquarium retailer to buy packets of marbles to promote them in class.

He would purchase a pack of small marbles for round S$four and a pack of larger ones for round S$5.

Liu would then promote every marble for between S$0.20 and S$0.50, relying on the scale and design.

In per week, he would make a revenue of as much as S$20.

“Again within the days, boys will play with marbles throughout recess time to win as many marbles as we are able to. My schoolmates purchase from me as a result of they’ll’t select the designs in the event that they purchase it in a pack.”

This, it appears, was only the start of his entrepreneurial journey.

Following his well-received marble enterprise in main college, Liu labored part-time in secondary college promoting cellphone equipment.

At 17, he began a short-lived publication enterprise which he needed to shut the next yr when he needed to serve his nationwide service.

He entered the IT service and restore trade when he was 22 and acquired his million-dollar property six years later.

Now in his 30s, Liu has change into the boss of his personal holding firm, which he based in Dec. 2019.

Surprisingly, all it took was a defective laptop computer to get him to the place he’s at present.

Shopping for a defective Macbook

Upon finishing his nationwide service in 2009, Liu purchased himself a second-hand Macbook that he had discovered on a HardwareZone discussion board for S$450.

There was one drawback, although.

As a long-time Home windows consumer, he wasn’t conversant in Apple’s working system, and thus determined to place it up on the market on-line.

He mentioned: “I didn’t know find out how to use it, the interface was completely totally different from Home windows.”

However earlier than doing so, he realised that he needed to repair a few different points: The laptop computer’s DVD drive and keyboard have been defective.

Sadly, he couldn’t discover a dependable service supplier to repair his laptop computer.

“11 years in the past, Apple wasn’t as in style as it’s at present so it wasn’t simple to discover a specialised restore service supplier. Both the substitute price was loopy costly, the critiques on the supplier weren’t promising, or the elements wanted weren’t available.”

Fixing it himself

Not glad with the present restore service suppliers in Singapore, he determined to take issues into his personal arms.

Contemplating himself a rookie again then, he mentioned it took him two weeks to supply for the lacking elements and restore the laptop computer.

He mentioned: “ I learnt find out how to restore it myself by way of trial and error. I might merely unscrew any screws I see and determine the remaining out myself.”

Solely then did he handle to promote the refurbished laptop computer at S$650.

Because the elements price round S$100, he made a revenue of near S$100 from the sale.

Promoting his first repaired laptop computer sparked an curiosity to open his personal restore service centre.

Nevertheless, there have been some hurdles he needed to overcome.

Surviving on bread and baked beans for six months

One of many larger issues he confronted was not receiving the help of his household who noticed “no future” in his profession of alternative.

“My whole household didn’t approve [of my job] and noticed no future in me doing enterprise. They needed me to get a job with a fundamental wage. It wasn’t simple to undergo, however I all the time imagine in myself.”

Calling it a “do or die” state of affairs, he used the final S$2,000 of his financial savings to begin a enterprise again in 2009 with two different companions.

The three of them have been the one employees that they had and they might do all of the repairs by themselves.

To maintain the enterprise afloat for the primary six months, he ate solely bread with canned baked beans.

Not taken critically by suppliers

Even suppliers didn’t take him critically, typically mistaking him and his staff for a bunch of polytechnic college students.

“It was extraordinarily troublesome to seek out suppliers. They didn’t take us critically as we have been younger and new. They offered us with quotes that have been only a few {dollars} beneath the retail value. One provider even thought we have been beginning a polytechnic venture.”

He additionally rented a small workplace that was slightly below 110 sqft, which was barely sufficient area to seat the three of them and retailer their stock.

“At that cut-off date, the widespread rest room within the constructing was larger than our workplace.”

At the moment, they might restore 10 units a day and have been open seven days per week.

He mentioned: “We repaired round 1,000 units in the course of the first six months of enterprise. We promote ourselves on Google and in boards like HardwareZone.”

However his laborious work and perseverance paid off, ultimately.

In a matter of six months, they managed to get sufficient enterprise to increase to 6 occasions its authentic workplace area.

They went on to make a reputation for themselves as one of many largest service centres in Singapore.

Going a special path

Nevertheless, after near 10 years, Liu determined to promote his shares to his companion in 2019 to begin his personal model service centre.

“I’ve all the time needed to begin my very own line of merchandise and to merchandise and to create a model that may relate to individuals. I figured the one manner for me to enhance myself and be higher is to get out of my consolation zone.”

Based in Dec. 2019, Esmond Service Centre (ESC) serves and caters to quite a lot of shoppers together with public finish shoppers in addition to colleges, small-medium enterprises and multinational corporations.

Other than being a restore service supplier, ESC additionally goals to launch its personal manufacturing line-up consisting of each way of life and IT merchandise, together with foldable bicycles below 10kg, by the mid-2021.

With a service centre at Alexandra Retail Centre, Liu’s newest ambition is to offer quick and inexpensive restore service in Asia and to construct relationships with all his prospects.

He encourages others to proceed to imagine in themselves, identical to he did, even when going by way of adversities in life.

“There will likely be occasions if you’ll doubt when you’re doing the correct factor and really feel like giving up. I’ve personally been by way of that many occasions. All the time bear in mind: For those who quit attributable to all of your doubts, then you’ll by no means have the correct reply to your questions.”

This sponsored article by Esmond Service Centre has made the author impressed to restore her previous iPod Contact.